Overview

[vc_row css=”.vc_custom_1429643818140{margin-bottom: 50px !important;}” row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”full_width” text_align=”left” background_image_as_pattern=”without_pattern”][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_column_text el_class=”format-3mf”]Launched in 2015, the 3MF Consortium, a Joint Development Project, is an industry consortium working to define a 3D printing format that will allow design applications to send full-fidelity 3D models to a mix of other applications, platforms, services and printers. Our goal is to quickly release and then maintain a specification that allows companies to focus on innovation, rather than on basic interoperability issues.

3D printing has many failure points, some of which arise from a tangle of different and inadequate file formats. 3MF can address this problem. The 3MF consortium came into being to deliver to the 3D printing industry a file format that is:

Given the significant interest in solving the file format problem as soon as possible, Microsoft determined that it could best help deliver an open solution through collaboration with the industry, thus benefiting all parties involved. Accordingly, Microsoft contributed to the consortium its existing specification under development known as 3MF (for 3D Manufacturing Format). The 3MF Consortium now manages the further development and distribution of the 3MF specification.

3MF members have agreed make their necessary patent claims available for implementations of the 3MF Core Specification and 3MF Materials Specification on a royalty-free basis. For details, please review the Joint Development Foundation Working Group Charter Appendix A, Patent Policy Option 2, available at http://bit.ly/1KqwpFU.[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1430332424781{margin-top: 50px !important;margin-bottom: 25px !important;border-top-width: 2px !important;border-right-width: 2px !important;border-bottom-width: 2px !important;border-left-width: 2px !important;padding-top: 20px !important;padding-right: 20px !important;padding-bottom: 20px !important;padding-left: 20px !important;border-left-color: #e5e5e5 !important;border-left-style: solid !important;border-right-color: #e5e5e5 !important;border-right-style: solid !important;border-top-color: #e5e5e5 !important;border-top-style: solid !important;border-bottom-color: #e5e5e5 !important;border-bottom-style: solid !important;}” el_class=”jdf”]The 3MF Consortium is a Joint Development Foundation project. The Joint Development Foundation is an independent non-profit organization that provides the corporate and legal infrastructure to enable groups to establish and operate standards and source code development collaborations. By establishing itself under the Joint Development Foundation, the 3MF Consortium was able to launch quickly and with minimal expense. And, by using the Joint Development Foundation corporate infrastructure, the 3MF Consortium has been able to efficiently set-up operations needed to support the project and the 3MF community.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

3MF is an industry consortium working to define a 3D printing format that will allow design applications to send full-fidelity 3D models to a mix of other applications, platforms, services and printers. Our goal is to provide a specification that eliminates the issues with currently available file formats, and allows companies to focus on innovation, rather than on basic interoperability issues.